Does President Trump need to fire more Cabinet members?

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DALLAS (AP) - Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says his decision to revoke the credentials of two ESPN writers who cover his team was driven partly by concern that automated game reports could eventually replace human-generated content.

Cuban said Monday that he banned Marc Stein and Tim MacMahon from Mavericks home games to bring attention to the issue of companies using automation in sports coverage.

The Associated Press, in a partnership with Automated Insights, produces automated stories on minor league baseball but does not use the technology for most of its sports coverage. The AP has at least one reporter at all games in the four major professional sports and most major college football and basketball games.

The billionaire who made his fortune through internet technology told The Dallas Morning News that ESPN had informed the club that it wouldn’t have a reporter at every game and would rely on wire services. Barry Bedlan, AP’s sports product manager, said ESPN “has relied on us for years.”

BASEBALL

NEW YORK (AP) - Slugger Kris Bryant, pitchers Jon Lester and Kyle Hendricks, and manager Joe Maddon of the World Series champion Chicago Cubs are among the finalists for baseball’s major postseason awards.

The Baseball Writers’ Association of America announced the top three vote-getters in each category.

The honors will be announced next week on MLB Network. Voting was completed by the end of the regular season.

Bryant, Daniel Murphy of Washington and Corey Seager of the Dodgers are up for NL MVP. Jose Altuve of Houston, Mookie Betts of Boston and Mike Trout of the Angels are on the AL side.

Maddon, Washington’s Dusty Baker and Dave Roberts of the Dodgers are up for NL Manager of the Year. Cleveland’s Terry Francona, Texas’ Jeff Banister and Baltimore’s Buck Showalter are the AL candidates.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) - Toronto sluggers Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, and New York Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes and second baseman Neil Walker were among 10 players to receive $17.2 million qualifying offers from their teams as general managers gathered for their annual meeting.

Chicago Cubs outfielder Dexter Fowler and Los Angeles Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen and third baseman Justin Turner also received offers, as did major league home run leader Mark Trumbo of Baltimore. Texas outfielder Ian Desmond and Philadelphia pitcher Jeremy Hellickson got offers, too.

Players have until Nov. 14 to accept. For players who don’t and sign elsewhere, their new team loses a high selection in next June’s amateur draft and their old club gets an extra pick after the first round.

Twenty players received qualifying offers last year, when the amount was $15.8 million. Baltimore catcher Matt Wieters, Houston outfielder Colby Rasmus and Colorado right-hander Chad Qualls were the only ones to accept.

Portage County Sherriff Dave Doak said Holley was arrested on Friday. He posted $50,000 bond Monday and was given a court date.

Holley’s suspension comes one day before the Golden Flashes host No. 14 Western Michigan. Holley is the team’s leading tackler.

School spokesman Eric Mansfield confirmed the punishment, but did not provide any details about Holley’s arrest.

Holley is the Golden Flashes’ top defensive player, averaging 12.3 tackles per game. He leads the nation with 8.9 solo tackles per game.

Holley’s twin brother, Nick, took over as Kent State’s starting quarterback earlier this season following injuries to two other QBs.

BAYLOR SEXUAL ASSAULT INVESTIGATION

Some of Baylor University’s most prominent supporters, including a former Texas governor and the billionaire businessman whose name adorns the football stadium, called for a shakeup of the school’s board of regents in the wake of the campus sexual assault scandal.

The months of criticism over the response by the nation’s largest Baptist university’s to sex assault reports led to the firing of school president Ken Starr and popular football coach Art Briles.

The “Bears for Leadership Reform” group says it wants to address regents’ transparency, appointments, conflicts of interest, structure and authority, as well as demanding more answers from the regents and the school’s investigation into how it mishandled reports of sexual assaults for years.

The group’s leaders include Drayton McLane, whose name is on the $266 million football stadium built at the height of the program’s success under Briles, and former Texas Gov. Mark White. White insisted the group’s goal is not about defending Briles or the football program.

MIXED MARTIAL ARTS

UFC interim light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will serve a doping ban until next July after an arbitration panel denied his appeal of a positive test.

Widely considered the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter, Jones was pulled from a July bout against Daniel Cormier shortly after news about the positive drug test.

Jones claimed to have taken a sexual-enhancement pill but ended up testing positive for two banned anti-estrogen agents.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which handles UFC testing, declared Jones ineligible. He took the case to arbitration and that panel delivered the maximum one-year suspension, saying Jones’ “degree of fault verged on the reckless.”

Jones is eligible again on July 7, 2017.

UFC issued a statement saying it was aware of the one-year ban, which began on July 6.

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